My jurisdiction is: California, USA
Hi,
I am a licensed general contractor here in Calif. At the end of last year (2008) I agreed to do a remodel for a client on a time and material basis. So I drew up a contract and we both signed it at the end of Dec. 2008. My regular employee, Jose, and I worked every weekday and some Saturdays (except when it rained) to finish the job as quickly as possible. (I also hired a couple other guys on a part time temporary basis, but my full time guy and I did most of the work).
I billed my client every 2 weeks or so as our contract stated and my client would pay me reasonably promptly and that continued until the end. Our agreement was for me to do the framing only but in many cases that usually leads to other things like installing windows and doors and some finish work. We did end up installing most of the windows but did not completely finish the framing. When we were getting very close to the end of the framing portion of the job, I received a voice mail from my client informing me that he did not have any more money (I assumed he meant no more money left for the framing portion since he had a lot of work left for other tradesmen and himself) and that he would be finishing the job on his own. I called him back and said no problem and offered, at no charge, to come over and explain to him how he should finish certain tasks that we had started but did not complete. He said he might call me for some advice but it was really not necessary to do that. Anyway, I said I would come over, pick up the final check and my tools within a few days. A few days later I did so and there was another worker there that he had hired that was doing some of the things that we didn't get to before my client informed me he would no longer be needing us. The other guy was using some of my tools. I thought that was a little inappropriate but I did not say anything about it because it was not a big deal and I don't like to leave a job on bad terms.
A couple of weeks earlier he had told me about a gas line that he needed to run for his new furnace, dryer and tankless water heater and said he received a quote from his plumber for $650 to do the job. During this visit he mentioned the gas line job to me again and I told him that we could do it for much less. I said my guy, Jose, was perfectly capable of doing a simple gas line job such as this. He agreed and the next day my guy Jose started and finished the job. He did all the gas line fitting and during down time while I was running around getting the pipes cut and threaded, Jose did some of the little pick-up things that we were unable to get to when we were framing. A couple of days later I left a bill for the gas line on his front door (it turned out to be $300 less than the quote he received from his plumber) and waited for him to send me a check or call so I could pick one up. A week went by and nothing. I called his cell phone and left a voice mail asking him to please send a check. Another week, nothing. I sent another letter in the mail asking him to send a check. Another week, nothing. Today I sent a certified letter asking for payment. My next step will likely be small claims court. Any advice on what else I could do? Another issue is, after looking over our signed contract I noticed, during the entire job, I charged him less per hour for my workers than what the contract states. It is only $1-2 more per hour but it adds up to hundreds of dollars. I would normally not worry about it, but, since he is not paying me for the gas line job, should I try to collect this money as well? Do I have a case in trying to collect this money? Thanks in advance for any advice on this matter.
Hi,
I am a licensed general contractor here in Calif. At the end of last year (2008) I agreed to do a remodel for a client on a time and material basis. So I drew up a contract and we both signed it at the end of Dec. 2008. My regular employee, Jose, and I worked every weekday and some Saturdays (except when it rained) to finish the job as quickly as possible. (I also hired a couple other guys on a part time temporary basis, but my full time guy and I did most of the work).
I billed my client every 2 weeks or so as our contract stated and my client would pay me reasonably promptly and that continued until the end. Our agreement was for me to do the framing only but in many cases that usually leads to other things like installing windows and doors and some finish work. We did end up installing most of the windows but did not completely finish the framing. When we were getting very close to the end of the framing portion of the job, I received a voice mail from my client informing me that he did not have any more money (I assumed he meant no more money left for the framing portion since he had a lot of work left for other tradesmen and himself) and that he would be finishing the job on his own. I called him back and said no problem and offered, at no charge, to come over and explain to him how he should finish certain tasks that we had started but did not complete. He said he might call me for some advice but it was really not necessary to do that. Anyway, I said I would come over, pick up the final check and my tools within a few days. A few days later I did so and there was another worker there that he had hired that was doing some of the things that we didn't get to before my client informed me he would no longer be needing us. The other guy was using some of my tools. I thought that was a little inappropriate but I did not say anything about it because it was not a big deal and I don't like to leave a job on bad terms.
A couple of weeks earlier he had told me about a gas line that he needed to run for his new furnace, dryer and tankless water heater and said he received a quote from his plumber for $650 to do the job. During this visit he mentioned the gas line job to me again and I told him that we could do it for much less. I said my guy, Jose, was perfectly capable of doing a simple gas line job such as this. He agreed and the next day my guy Jose started and finished the job. He did all the gas line fitting and during down time while I was running around getting the pipes cut and threaded, Jose did some of the little pick-up things that we were unable to get to when we were framing. A couple of days later I left a bill for the gas line on his front door (it turned out to be $300 less than the quote he received from his plumber) and waited for him to send me a check or call so I could pick one up. A week went by and nothing. I called his cell phone and left a voice mail asking him to please send a check. Another week, nothing. I sent another letter in the mail asking him to send a check. Another week, nothing. Today I sent a certified letter asking for payment. My next step will likely be small claims court. Any advice on what else I could do? Another issue is, after looking over our signed contract I noticed, during the entire job, I charged him less per hour for my workers than what the contract states. It is only $1-2 more per hour but it adds up to hundreds of dollars. I would normally not worry about it, but, since he is not paying me for the gas line job, should I try to collect this money as well? Do I have a case in trying to collect this money? Thanks in advance for any advice on this matter.
